A source has confirmed to the Post-Dispatch that Davidson, who spent seven years with the organization, has agreed to a buyout offer from the Blues for an undisclosed amount.

Davidson, who most recently held the title of president of hockey operations, had three years left on a contract that owed him approximately $6 million.

A first-round pick of the Blues in 1973, Davidson played two seasons as a goaltender here before being traded to the New York Rangers. He spent the rest of his playing career with the Rangers, then moved into the broadcast booth, where he had an illustrious three-decade run on TV.

In 2006, Davidson gave up that career and agreed to become a front-office figure for Dave Checketts, who was head of a group buying the Blues. But Davidson took on a role much greater than a member of management, becoming the face of the franchise in a city where fans became disenchanted with the sport after the 2004-05 lockout.

It became apparent when a new Blues ownership group headed by Tom Stillman came in last May that one of the group's goals was to cut costs, and Davidson's hefty contract came into question.

At the time, Davidson told the Post-Dispatch that he would explore his options and in fact met with the Columbus Bluejackets, but nothing materialized there.

Recently, Davidson spent some time working on the business side of the Blues' operation, but shortly thereafter, the sides mutually agreed to part ways.

Blues player T.J. Oshie said of Davidson: "The way he talked about the fans, the way he talked about our team and that come-grow-with-us (theme), I think he really caught a lot of people's attention and got us to where we were last year."

The Blues totaled 109 points last season and were the Western Conference's No. 2 seed for the playoffs. They were eliminated in the second round by eventual Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles.

Let's be clear: Now that he's officially left the St. Louis Blues as their president of hockey operations, the best move for John Davidson would be to return to television color commentary.

Yes, this is a completely selfish declaration on our part, because we hold JD up as the gold standard for hockey analysis in the booth; we doubt he'll be willing to take the pay cut.

Instead, Davidson will find a number of opportunities in the NHL to do what he did in St. Louis: Build a winner on the ice through the draft and smart spending, and be the voice of the organization in keeping fans enthusiastic about the direction of the franchise.

You think the Calgary Flames or Columbus Blue Jackets could use a guy like that? (Or, in a delicious twist, given his history with the New York Rangers, how about the New York Islanders?)

The news, first reported by Louis Jean of TVA, comes three months after Davidson's negotiating window with other teams closed. Speculation remained that new owner Tom Stillman would work out a financial settlement with Davidson, who had three years and an estimated $6 million left on his deal. Apparently, that's finally happened.

Davidson met with the Blue Jackets during his negotiating window, talking with the team about taking over hockey operations and igniting pipe dreams about convincing Rick Nash to stay.

From Aaron Portzline of the Dispatch:

At $2 million per season, he was part of a talent-laden front office that also includes Doug Armstrong, Larry Pleau, Al MacInnis, head scout Dave Taylor and coach Ken Hitchcock. Outside of the Toronto Maple Leafs, it's one of the deepest and most expensive front offices in the NHL.

Meanwhile, the Blue Jackets have long had a crying need for experience and cache at the top of their organization. Davidson met with majority owner John P. McConnell and president Mike Priest in May, but none involved would discuss the meeting publicly.

He also loves Calgary. In, like, a big way. Both he and the team denied any interest in adding Davidson to management back in June, but speculation was that Davidson could run hockey ops while Ken King moves into a business leadership role.

Davidson's a rock star executive, and an asset to any team that manages to add him to the brain trust.

I know this question is asked every thread so I don't know if you are being serious or not, but I will answer sincerely.

I hope JD gets the credit he deserves for righting the Blues ship. He never made any promises that the turnaround would be quick and it took a long time. Whereas other teams splashed on those ridiculous 15 year deals, JD and the Blues drafted well, made trades to acquire draft picks and prospects and never went crazy on contracts (the one real misstep was the Kariya deal, but it's Paul friggin' Kariya). They have set themselves up for the long term. JD is leaving the Blues in a much better place than when he arrived and he's left them in good hand with Armstrong, Al Mac, and company.

JD will never read this, but I give him serious kudos for the work that he did while he was here.

I know this question is asked every thread so I don't know if you are being serious or not, but I will answer sincerely.

I hope JD gets the credit he deserves for righting the Blues ship. He never made any promises that the turnaround would be quick and it took a long time. Whereas other teams splashed on those ridiculous 15 year deals, JD and the Blues drafted well, made trades to acquire draft picks and prospects and never went crazy on contracts (the one real misstep was the Kariya deal, but it's Paul friggin' Kariya). They have set themselves up for the long term. JD is leaving the Blues in a much better place than when he arrived and he's left them in good hand with Armstrong, Al Mac, and company.

JD will never read this, but I give him serious kudos for the work that he did while he was here.

Totally agree, I think the Blues took a big step back with this, I'm kind of baffled. "Cutting costs" really one of the main justifications? Really? I'm shaking my head. I'm at a loss here.

And agreed on Kariya. Hindsight is always 20/20 but the guy just potted 30 goals when we signed him, it was the largest free agent signing the Blues have ever had in recent memory and re-energized the franchise, even if only for a little while. And now it's looking like he'll be dealing with psychological issues normally affiliated with NFL players the rest of his life. It's sad.

I understand cutting costs and all, but damn. Davidson always seemed like a straight shooter who really knew the game. I was always confident in any moves made or not made because he was a part of it.Bah...if they really wanted to keep him, they could have made up his salary somewhere else.I don't completely buy that this was just about money. There has to be something else there...either Davidson didn't like Stillman or vice versa or something else.

There is more to this than what the organization is letting out, but all that I can say is what Jeremy Rutherford and Andy Strickland have both reported numerous times in the past:

From a story by Rutherford written when Stillman signed his purchase agreement:

JR wrote:

Checketts appears ready to move on, and the fact that he has signed a purchase agreement with Stillman's group suggests that he has either no control of the process or has decided not to hold up a sale to Stillman, despite a business relationship between the two that has been termed as "frosty" by many within the organization.

There is more to this than what the organization is letting out, but all that I can say is what Jeremy Rutherford and Andy Strickland have both reported numerous times in the past:

From a story by Rutherford written when Stillman signed his purchase agreement:

JR wrote:

Checketts appears ready to move on, and the fact that he has signed a purchase agreement with Stillman's group suggests that he has either no control of the process or has decided not to hold up a sale to Stillman, despite a business relationship between the two that has been termed as "frosty" by many within the organization.

And JD was brought in by Checketts. Put the pieces together...

I forget where I read it but those in the organization who were there when Stillman made his first offer for the Blues considered it a lowball offer. Obviously, JD was a Checketts guy like you said, one would wonder if he also felt slighted at Stillman's initial bid. Who knows? It also could be that he was making 2 million a year and they wanted that off the books. From the moment Stillman came in, these rumors were around. I'm surprised he didn't leave when he had his open negotiation window earlier this year. It's not a huge surprise but still a bummer.

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